FISHES OF CHESAPEAKE BAY 303 
older fish yet sexually immature, averaged about 220 millimeters in length and were thought to be 
fish 1 or a little over 1 year old. 
Only two catches of very young squeteagues were made in Chesapeake Bay. The earliest catch 
consisted of 10 fish, 30 to 38 millimeters (134 to 134 inches) long, seined at Buckroe Beach, Va., 
on June 28, 1921; and the other one was taken on July 27, 1916, when several young squeteagues, 
36 to 49 millimeters (124 to 2 inches) in length, were trawled off Windmill Point, lower Rappahan- 
nock River. No young were caught during August, but many were taken during the fall. Although 
the difficulty encountered by other investigators in separating squeteagues into age groups was met, 
some success in this respect was obtained by measuring entire catches taken in various types of 
fishing gear. Most of these fish were caught during September, October, and November in the 
lower parts of the bay, particularly at Ocean View, but catches made in other parts of the bay (that 
is, as far north as Solomons) agreed with these in every respect. As a result of consolidating the 
total number of young squeteagues taken in various seine and beam-trawl hauls from September 25 
to October 31, 1921 and 1922, the distribution of sizes given in Figure 182 was found. It will be seen 
from this graph that the predominating size of the young during October, 1921 and 1922, in the lower 
parts of Chesapeake Bay was from 334 to 5 inches in length. Late in October, 1915, of 107 sque- 
teagues trawled by the Fish Hawk in the lower Chesapeake, 103 were 90 to 155 millimeters (334 to 
634 inches) in length, three were 185 to 100 millimeters (about 734 inches), and one was 225 milli- 
meters (about 9 inches). The only squeteague taken (trawled) in December, 1915, was 90 milli- 
meters (334 inches) in length, and a single fish trawled in December, 1920, was 75 millimeters (3 
inches) in length. The predominating sizes of the next group of fish, taken in the fall of 1921 and 
1922, were 200 to 263 millimeters (about 8 to 1034 inches). A pronounced scarcity of fish between 
160 and 190 millimeters (634 to 734 inches) was found at this time. It is evident, therefore, that in 
the fall, at the age of about 34 year, the Chesapeake Bay squeteague has attained a length of from 334 
to 5 or even 6 inches, and that the usual size at 134 years is 8 to 1034 inches. The size of older fish 
is difficult to determine unless scales are utilized for study. 
The squeteague is one of the most valuable food fishes taken in Chesapeake Bay. During 1920 
it ranked fourth, both in quantity and value, the catch being 7,918,713 pounds, worth $390,101. 
In Maryland it ranked fifth in quantity and fourth in value, the catch being 678,470 pounds, 
worth $44,143. Of this amount 70 per cent were caught with pound nets, 16 per cent with haul seines, 
8 per cent with purse nets, 3 per cent with lines, 2 per cent with gill nets, and 1 per cent with fyke 
nets. Kent County is credited with the greatest catch, namely, 255,600 pounds, followed by 
Somerset with 121,123 and Anne Arundel with 78,825 pounds. 
In Virginia it ranked fourth in quantity and third in value, the catch being 7,240,243 pounds, 
worth $345,985. Of this amount, 96 per cent were caught in pound nets, 2 per cent with lines, and 
2 per cent with other apparatus. Elizabeth City County is credited with the greatest catch 
namely, 2,034,840 pounds, followed by Mathews with 1,338,462 and Gloucester with 1,292,970 
pounds. 
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